Coming back to Princess!

[Hilary]

Hi all,

 

I recently booked a cruise on Sun Princess for Christmas, 2005. This will be our first Princess cruise in nearly 10 years, and I'm very excited to see how it will compare. We've been cruising mostly on Celebrity these past few years and definitely enjoy their product, but Celebrity's Caribbean itineraries for 2005 simply stink. Princess is offering amazing itineraries, particularly their southern ones and I couldn't resist booking, even though it's more than a year in advance.

 

I've read some of the reviews of Sun, but if anyone has any tips or insider information from their own cruise, I'd love to hear about it. We booked a BB category balcony cabin, and I also would love to hear how that compares to a category 2 on a Celebrity ship (if anyone knows).

 

I'm looking forward to becoming part of the Princess board during the next year or so.

[HighRoller]

Glad to have you back!....

[baby]

Hi

 

What ships have you been on -on Celebrity? I have been on both celebrity and princess. I have also been on the Sun Princess - what comparisons do you want?

 

I will tell you the rooms on Sun Princess are smaller and the bathrooms are smaller are Sun Princess - also the balcony has more of a "metal" feel than celebrity ships - but then again, I think the food is better on princess than Celebrity - while again the entertainment is better on Celebrity - these are only my opinions and everyone is different.

 

I am going on Coral Princess in NOvember though -

 

carol in connecticut

 

carol

[prophotogirl]

Welcome back to Princess!

[Hilary]

I've cruised on Zenith, Mercury, and Infinity in the Celebrity fleet, and will be on Horizon this Christmas. Ten years ago I thought that the food and entertainment was pretty comparable on Princess and Celebrity. Guess I'm wondering what Princess is like now for service, food, and entertainment more than anything.

 

Then again, it doesn't really matter and comparing cruise lines is so darned subjective that I think I'm going to just consider this an adventure to look forward to. I know that we'll have a great time no matter what, and we aren't the type that expect "perfection" on our cruises, we just want a fun and relaxing vacation. We can for sure get that on a Princess cruise! <VBG>

[CruiseFever]

Hi all,

 

I recently booked a cruise on Sun Princess for Christmas, 2005. This will be our first Princess cruise in nearly 10 years, and I'm very excited to see how it will compare. We've been cruising mostly on Celebrity these past few years and definitely enjoy their product, but Celebrity's Caribbean itineraries for 2005 simply stink. Princess is offering amazing itineraries, particularly their southern ones and I couldn't resist booking, even though it's more than a year in advance.

 

I've read some of the reviews of Sun, but if anyone has any tips or insider information from their own cruise, I'd love to hear about it. We booked a BB category balcony cabin, and I also would love to hear how that compares to a category 2 on a Celebrity ship (if anyone knows).

 

I'm looking forward to becoming part of the Princess board during the next year or so.

 

 

Welcome Back To Princess!

 

Here's an excerpt from our recent Golden Princess (similar ship) cruise, basically our first.

 

Embarkation

 

It was touted as being a breeze and turned out to be even easier but my initial reaction when we arrived at Port Everglades was shock.

 

We arrived at the port at 10:30 AM, normally plenty early to be one of the first in line. I wanted to go at 10AM but held myself back. I should have gone with my first instincts (a really important travel tip) because there were hundreds of people already in line.

 

Could it be that there were that many people as eager as I?

 

It turns out that they were passengers/clients of Cruise Connection, a southern Florida outfit that runs busses around picking up local cruise passengers and transporting them back and forth from the port for a fee ($35 round trip).

 

Standing in line though I met several people that I had talked to on line via the Cruise Critic message board... It is always nice to put faces with words on a computer screen. We chatted for a while and the line started moving about 11:30 AM, and rather quickly. Inside I saw why.

 

Princess has done a great job of getting the passengers on board. Divided by deck, passengers are directed to one of two check-in desks. One for Express Check in which takes all of 30 to 45 seconds and another for those who did not complete pre-cruise documents.

 

We walked right up to the desk, meeting even more on-line friends on the way. All I had to do was verify our identification by producing our passports and allow them to visually see that the credit card I had posted to guarantee our shipboard charges was indeed mine then off we went. A quick security scan through one of the four stations and we were off to get our pictures taken and board the ship.

 

On Board First Impressions- The Wow Factor

 

Upon boarding the Golden Princess my first impression was all about how stunning this ship is. The very tasteful décor includes lots of pastels and wood-tones, providing a pleasing combination theme that carries throughout the ship. The ship is well laid out, a real plus for a large ship of 109,000 tons. The 17 passenger access decks begin with my favorite of them all, the Sky deck which sits perched above the stern of the ship and houses Skywalkers, an observation lounge by day and a disco into the wee hours of the morning by night. Lower decks have their share of lounges, shops and other passenger access areas like most other cruise ships.

 

What makes the Golden different is the way the areas have been broken up into smaller, more intimate areas. On deck, rather than huge open areas hosting a sea of lounge chairs, areas are separated by design and grouping with none having more than a couple dozen chairs. Inside from lounges to Promenade areas, similar groupings can be found, allowing a more intimate feel to this huge ship. I had not thought of other ships as huge vehicles made for the transportation of a mass of people over water before.

 

Now I do.

 

Princess has done a remarkable job of making a ship that spans the length of three football fields seem as intimate as, in places, a private yacht. Every turn and every wall as been considered in the design of this ship and no area was not given due attention.

 

More on the specifics of each area later..

 

Here's the whole review if you like

[Salty Dawg]

Then again, it doesn't really matter and comparing cruise lines is so darned subjective that I think I'm going to just consider this an adventure to look forward to. I know that we'll have a great time no matter what, and we aren't the type that expect "perfection" on our cruises, we just want a fun and relaxing vacation.

Hilary,

 

By displaying such a positive outlook I am confident that you will have a fantastic voyage.

Welcome back to Princess & enjoy your journey!

[KaC-Cruiser]

I've cruised on Zenith, Mercury, and Infinity in the Celebrity fleet, and will be on Horizon this Christmas. Ten years ago I thought that the food and entertainment was pretty comparable on Princess and Celebrity. Guess I'm wondering what Princess is like now for service, food, and entertainment more than anything.

 

Then again, it doesn't really matter and comparing cruise lines is so darned subjective that I think I'm going to just consider this an adventure to look forward to. I know that we'll have a great time no matter what, and we aren't the type that expect "perfection" on our cruises, we just want a fun and relaxing vacation. We can for sure get that on a Princess cruise! <VBG>

Can't ask for more than to have a great time comparing great cruise ships!! As a 5 time Celebrity cruiser, I'm looking forward to our first Princess cruise in Nov. on the Grand ... so I can do a little comparing of my own!! :D

[JanetMarie]

Can't keep away from the "Love Boat!"

[redjoan]

Could anyone tell me about Infinity who has sailed her? We are thinking of sailing her to Hawaii in 2005 but are concerned with the "pod problems". Anyone ever experience a delay, or canceled ports? Now we are thinking of doing Island Princess.

[KaC-Cruiser]

Could anyone tell me about Infinity who has sailed her? We are thinking of sailing her to Hawaii in 2005 but are concerned with the "pod problems". Anyone ever experience a delay, or canceled ports? Now we are thinking of doing Island Princess.

Haven't done the Infinity myself yet ... but you may want to re-post this under the Celebrity section ..... out of the 5 Celebrity ships I've been on - we have never had a delay.

[Hilary]

Infinity is a gorgeous ship and very comfortable and well laid out IMO. I can't really comment on the pod problems that the M class ships are having since I've never experienced the problem myself. I can tell you that we rode out quite a storm (20' seas, 30 knot winds) on that cruise and Infinity handled herself beautifully. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Infinity as long as her pods are in good working condition.